CLASSICS 219: THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Precept 1 : The Deeds of Augustus

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Readings
• Ward, pp 251-270
• L&R, VOL. I. sec. 194-195 (pp. 555-572), 201 (pp. 588-590) [on reserve in Firestone] OR ONLINE HERE: L&R I
• L&R I , pp.561-572, is also available as the Res Gestae, The Deeds of Augustus.
• Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, "Augustus" chs. 1-61 and 97-101 (Penguin pp. 54-87, 108-112) [the remainder, on his private life, is optional]
• Tacitus Annals Bk. 1, sec. 1-15 (Penguin ch. 1, pp. 31-42)
• Virgil, Aeneid, up to the end of Bk 8 (p. 201 Day lewis, p. 214 Mandelbaum) (for next week)

Augustus was born Gaius Octavius on Sept. 24th, 63 BC. In the course of a long life he changed his name and his character many times, dying at last on Aug. 19th, AD 14, as Imperator Caesar Augustus, Son of a God, Pontifex Maximus, Consul 13 times, Imperator 20 times, in the 37th year of his Tribunician Power, Father of His Country. Generally regarded as the first Roman emperor, he held supreme power for 58 years - first in association with others from the age of 19 (43 BC), and then alone from the age of 32 (31 BC). In that time he transformed the Roman world.

1. Augustus' achievements are staggering, and you can get hopelessly lost in details. Many of them will be discussed in lectures and in the next precept, but a good way to get a handle on them might be to keep a ledger with different headings. This week we'll look at:

• the constitutional position of the princeps;
• administrative reform in Rome, Italy, and the provinces;
• changes in the upper classes (senate and equites);
• military (and veteran) reforms.

What do you think were Augustus' major accomplishments in each of these areas? Be prepared to defend your opinion and to cite evidence, from Ward, from the documents in L&R, and from the biography by Suetonius. Augustus' solutions for past problems will be the blueprint for the future.

2. The Res Gestae, the Deeds of Augustus (L&R I, pp. 561-572), is the first emperor's justification of his long career, inscribed in bronze and attached to two columns flanking the entrance to his massive mausoleum in Rome. The image which Augustus presents, behind the welter of detail, is very carefully fashioned.

• Who is named in the document, who is omitted, and why?
• What does he say of the three pillars of his power (imperium, tribunicia potestas, auctoritas), and why?
• What are the major themes, explicit and implicit, of the document (think of custom, religion, peace, consent, restoration, innovation)?
• For whom is the document written?
• Be prepared to cite the text in support of your summary of his image.

3. Tacitus, one of the greatest of ancient historians, was a senator from Southern Gaul (France) who wrote his Annals about a century after Augustus died. 100 years of monarchy had left him bitterly critical of it and particularly of Augustus' responsibility for it. His opening chapters can be read as a compressed, carefully weighed, and utterly damning refutation of the Res Gestae. What are his chief complaints? Is he right?

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Last Updated: 2004-04-23

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